Jeffrey Rabbitt enjoyed one of the best days of smallmouth fishing he’s ever had on Day 1 of the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, landing a limit of smallmouth measuring 98.75 inches to claim the lead.
The Finleyville, Pa., angler holds a slim lead over 2023 Dakota Lithium Angler of the Year Rus Snyders, who landed 98.5 inches. Stephen Sisto is third with 95.5 inches followed by Drew Gregory in fourth with 95.5 inches and Kristine Fischer in fifth with 94.75 inches.
“I’m just happy to catch 90 inches, honestly. I consider anything over 90 a pretty good day,” Rabbitt said. “This is probably one of the better days I’ve had out here. Catching three 20-inchers, I could go out tomorrow and not catch a single bass and drive home happy.
“I’m probably going to need closer to 195 inches total to win.”
The Susquehanna River once again showed why it is a favorite smallmouth destination amongst kayak anglers as 35 limits of 90 inches or better were caught on Day 1. In total, 1,342 bass were caught by the field of 224 anglers. Recent rains brought the river level up several feet ahead of the tournament, but Rabbitt said the water clarity remained relatively clear.
Rabbitt, who lives on the western side of Pennsylvania, makes several trips to the Susquehanna a year to chase smallmouth, but he can’t recall a time he caught three 20-inchers during a day of fishing.
“It is a special place, for sure,” he said.
One primary area, a spot where heavy current meets slower-moving water, produced several key bass. With the bass sitting in 2 feet of water or less, topwaters, spinnerbaits and swimbaits were key choices for Rabbitt. He isn’t exactly sure why those bass are there other than the area is loaded with baitfish.
“I found a small, really good area of bank, and it was loaded with big bass,” he said. “I kept coming back to it and throwing different things. I was reeling everything as fast as I could.”
He opened the morning by landing one of his smaller fish of the day, but his next cast resulted in a 20.25 smallmouth, tied for his biggest catch of the day. His second 20-incher came not long after that, and from there Rabbitt was able to land another smallmouth over 20 inches as well as a 19.5 and an 18.75.
While it was one of the more special days of fishing he has experienced, it wasn’t without a little bit of frustration. Rabbit lost the biggest bass he hooked all day after he got wrapped around a stick during the fight, and he lost several more quality bass throughout the day.
“I definitely had some bad experiences. I had one break a treble hook and another one break a spinnerbait frame. There were a lot of mishaps. The fact that I caught what I did, I’m pretty happy with that.”
Brandon Palmer landed the Big Bass of the Day, a 21-inch smallmouth that anchored a 91.75-inch limit.
The full field of anglers will launch from any of the approved public launches and begin fishing at 5:30 a.m. ET. Lines out is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the winner will be revealed on the Bassmaster YouTube LIVE feed at 4 p.m.
The Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau is hosting the tournament.
